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The papers of Robert Chalmers consist of two hardbound volumes of handwritten text, being the 'Akbar Nameh of Abul Fazl Allami' translated by him. The Akbar Nameh ('History of Akbar' or 'Book of Akbar') was the official history of Akbar's reign and was commissioned by Akbar. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abul Fazl in Persian. Chalmer's translation is an abridged version of the original text. The Oriental Translation Committee decided that, given the importance of the Akbar Nameh, the abridged translation was not suitable for publication and they recommended that Lieutenant Chalmers undertake a complete translation of the text.

Volume I contains a letter dated 1923 from Henry Beveridge to Miss Latimer, Assistant Librarian at the Royal Asiatic Society, concerning Chalmer's translation. There are notes from Gore Ouseley and borrowing slips pasted in. Also a note saying 'see 'Noer's Kaisar Nameh' is handwritten is on the title page.

Volume II contains a letter dated 30th May 1833 from J. C. Morris to the Secretary of the Oriental Translation Committee concerning a letter from Lieutenant Chalmers and asking them to recognise the work undertaken by Chalmers in translating the Akbar Nameh. The letter goes on to state although the translation is not accompanied by the original as required by the rules of the committee, Mr Lushington (English Tory Politician and Governor of Madras from 1827-1832) will on application provide the loan of the original work in his possession from which Lieutenant Chalmers' translation was prepared. On f.157 there is a pressed fern. Annotations have been made in a different hand.

A further small slip of paper concerning the volume 2 (unidentified author) was found in the Society's Institutional records in 2024. This was therefore inserted into the volume.

The papers consist of correspondence mainly concerned with Pankhurst's interest and research into Ethiopia, a small amount of printed material, photographs, and Abstracts and Papers from the First International Conference on the History of Ethiopian Art which was convened by Pankhurst in 1986.

Correspondence and articles concerning the Papers of Richard Francis Burton which became part of the Collections in the 1920s following the death of Oscar Eckenstein:

• Correspondence between C.E. Whitting and the Society concerning the Burton collection. Typed, 4 pieces, dated 20-21 June 1972.
• 'Burton and his Peers' - an article from Country Life, 18 October 1973, concerning the sesquicentenary exhibition of the Royal Asiatic Society at the Victoria and Albert Museum but focussing on Richard Burton. Printed, 1 piece.
• Correspondence between Mary Lovell, Bernadette Rivett and Michael Pollock, Royal Asiatic Society Librarian, concerning the listing of the Burton Collection (Papers and Printed material). Typed and photocopied, 25 pieces, dated 13 July 1996 - 5 May 2000.

The material within this collection comprises of correspondence and publications by and about Richard Francis Burton and his wife Isabel Burton (nee Arundell). There are also two photographs of Burton and artefacts.

Also included within this Collection are correspondence concerning the acquisition of the material by the RAS and some supplementary material regarding Oscar Eckenstein, its original collector.

The main item in these papers is the Letter Book, complied by Richard Macan concerned with the sale of the estate of the late Major Turner Macan. There is also a note written by Richard Macan and some modern research notes on the Letter Book and Turner Macan's biography.

These Papers consist of a single document - a handwritten manuscript with label, 'Notes on China and the Chinese'. This label also reads 'Read 7th April 1847. This is inaccurate - the General Meeting Minutes of the Society record that Sir George Staunton read the paper from the Reverend George Smith at the meeting of the 17th April 1847. The manuscript relates details of geography, politics, education, religion and culture. The manuscript is dated London, April 7th 1847 in the same hand as the creator and 'Read 17 April 1847' in a different hand.

The papers consist of two translations from Buddhist paintings. These are:

• Translation of the History of the Dharmapala Jataka which is painted in the Kaluwella Temple, 3 pages with descriptive note on the 4th.
• Translation of the [Sambaive] Jataka or the history of the "King Dannanjaya Cooraw-wa", also painted in the Kaluwella Temple, 7 pages with descriptive note on the 8th.

Two letters and three articles by Reinhold F.G. Müller. These are:

• Letter from Reinhard Müller to the Royal Asiatic Society to send an article from the Archivs für Geschichte der Medizin BD.15, Leipzig, about John Ambrose Barth, November 192,3 and two articles on the name 'Tschmolungma', one of which he asks to be forwarded to the Royal Geographical Society. Due to difficulties in obtaining material he also asks for the Society to send articles on Asian medicine. Typed, dated 10 December 1923.
• Letter from Reinhard Müller to the Royal Asiatic Society to thank for material sent and that he will send copies of his articles concerning them once published. He gives his bookseller, Otto Harrassowitz, as a suitable means of getting material to him and payment. Typed, dated 26 January 1924.
• "Abschrift - Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften XXI Bd. Nr.1 Nr. 95/96, 1922." - review by Müller of L.A. Waddell's Ancient Indian Anatomical Drawings from Tibet, J.F. Fleet's The Standard Height of an Indian Man; and Berthold Laufer's Das Gitralakshana. Typed, dated 1922.
• "Abschrift - Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften XXII Bd. Nr. 1/2 Nr. 100/101, 1923" - review by Müller of W.S. Hadaway’s Some Hindu “Silpa” Shastras in their Relation to South Indian Sculpture. Typed, dated 1923.
• Über asiatische Bergnamen - an offprint of an article by Müller from the Zeitschrift des Ōsterreichischen Alpenklubs, November 1923, concerning the naming of mountains in Tibet. Printed, dated November 1923.

The Papers of Reginald Stanley Underhill consist of:

• Photocopy of a letter from Chandra Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana, 5th Prime Minister of Nepal, to Mrs Underhill to thank her for letting him know she enjoyed the [Fulpati] procession. He iterates that she has no need to apologise. Handwritten with printed letterhead, dated 9 October 1921.
• Photocopy of envelope and Christmas greetings to Reginald Stanley Underhill from Maharaja Mohun Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana, 6th Prime Minister of Nepal. Postmarked 1963.
• Photocopy of letter from Maharaja Mohun Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana to Peter Coombs, nephew of Reginald Stanley Underhill, to express his regrets on hearing of the death of Underhill. Typed, dated 28 November 1964.
• "The Nepalese Ropeway" presenting a short biography of Underhill's life. Typed with handwritten corrections, unsigned and undated. The biography references some photographs but these are not with the documents.

These papers consist of a typed list of Reginald Le May's publications from 1926-1962, including some unpublished works at the time, and a small amount of biographical material. The list is headed with the handwritten annotation "With the compliments of Mr Reginald le May Feb. 1962".